The United States denounced on Sunday the “provocative visit” of an Israeli far-right minister to the esplanade of the Mosques, in East Jerusalem occupied and annexed by Israel. Jordan’s Islamic Affairs Council called the visit “a flagrant storming and desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
“This sacred space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Israeli Minister of Homeland Security Itamar Ben Gvir visited the Esplanade des Mosques, the Temple Mount for Jews, on Sunday morning. The visit comes days after “Jerusalem Day” marking the “reunification” of the city after Israel conquered East Jerusalem in 1967.
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No incident enamelled the visit of Itamar Ben Gvir who was escorted by police, said the spokesman for the Jerusalem police. “Threats from Hamas will not deter us. I went to the Temple Mount. Jerusalem is our soul,” the minister wrote on his Telegram account.
Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, had denounced the previous visit in January by Itamar Ben Gvir to the site, the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism. Leader of the far-right Jewish Force party, Itamar Ben Gvir was charged more than 50 times as a youth for incitement to violence or hate speech. In 2007, he was convicted of supporting a terrorist group and inciting racism.
Under a status quo decreed after Israel’s conquest of East Jerusalem in 1967, non-Muslims can go to the Al-Aqsa Mosque at specific times without praying there, a rule less and less followed by some Jewish nationalists. The place is administered by Jordan, but its access is controlled by the Israeli security forces.
2023-05-22 02:19:07
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